Kindred Camaraderie
by Nietzsche's Itch
Summary: They hate their fathers. Nahuel because he knows his father, and Embry because he doesn't.


Disclaimer: I do not own Twilight

Summary: They both hate their fathers. Nahuel because he knows his father, and Embry because he doesn't.

* * *

They met in the woods, Embry on patrol, and Nahuel returning from a hunt. It escalated from there. When asked later, neither of the bickering parties could have said who threw the first barbed comment that began the impromptu argument. They only knew that they were each determined to be the one to finish it.

"Yeah, but you know who your father is," Embry protested.

"And I hate him with every fibre of my being," Nahuel shot back through gritted teeth.

The wolf stubbornly persisted. "At least you know who he is."

"I wish I didn't," he replied mournfully.

"Mine is definitely the father of one of my other pack members. Can you even imagine the tension that causes?" he demanded.

He grunted. "No, I cannot. But I daresay it is roughly equivalent to having to live with my aunt whilst knowing that I killed my mother and consigned her to an eternity spent babysitting me out of a sense of duty," Nahuel spat, feeling unwilling gratification when Embry blanched.

"...that is bad, I'll admit."

"You're telling me."

"You know who you're supposed to hate though. I don't know who knocked my mother up and never cared enough to acknowledge their illegitimate child," Embry pressed on.

"Alright, much as I hate Joham, I am glad that I can definitively say that he is to blame for all my troubles. You on the other hand..." he trailed off.

"Yeah, I know," Embry muttered.

"There could be an upside to this." Nahuel said thoughtfully.

Embry looked incredulously at him. "How do you figure that out?"

"Joham, I refuse to call him father, is constantly harassing me to take up the mantle of trophy son of the damned. He doesn't seem to realize that I will throw myself over a funeral pyre before I follow his beloved twisted breeding program. You are free of any obligation to these men. None of them can try to influence or control you without revealing your parentage and damaging themselves in the process," he said in a placating tone.

"...I hadn't thought about it like that," Embry admitted, understanding the others logic.

"I have had far too much time to contemplate the pros and cons of knowing who my father was. And I have to say, I much favour your situation," Nahuel scowled.

Embry considered this. "I want to disagree with you, but I can't. You're right, opening that can of worms wouldn't be worth it. It would cause friction in the pack no matter who turned out to be my half-brother and I would be expected to kowtow to them. As it is, I'm free of that crap."

"I wish I could say the same. Joham will never give up on me," Nahuel said exhaustedly.

"Kill him," he said promptly. Tried and trusted shifters answer to everything vampire related.

Nahuel snorted. "I'm not that cold-blooded, no pun intended, that I'd go after him like that. And my sisters, for some unfathomable reason, idolise the cretin," he said sourly.

"That is difficult..."

"Maybe the Volturi will finish him off. We're not superior to true vampires in terms of raw power. And we can die so much more easily. And aside from that, Aro will not tolerate a military minded coven that has any potential to be a threat to him. I think that if you wolves hadn't stood witness for the Cullen's the outcome might have been rather different" he said darkly. E

mbry shivered, and not from the ineffectual breeze. "I don't want to think about that. I don't have any real bone with them, and Jake has imprinted on the kid, that's telling enough that they're not the monsters we always thought they were," Embry said with finality.

"Indeed."

Embry was the first to rise, sensing the tacit dismissal he was being issued.

"I'm not sure whether it's been nice talking to you, enlightening, maybe," he joked.

Nahuel chuckled quietly. "I might say the same." Embry shuffled awkwardly.

"Well I guess I'll see you around or something," he grinned. Nahuel smiled thinly in riposte.

"I don't leave for another four days. Perhaps we will meet again," he said serenely. Embry nodded.

"Yeah, sure. Anyway, I have to go before my pack eats everything. Not that they haven't been doing that since those Italians left. Asses. So, uh, bye le-wait I'm not allowed to call you that anymore...this is awkward..." Nahuel laughed in quiet amusement. Embry reddened slightly.

"You could just call me Nahuel," he suggested placidly.

Embry coughed. "Why didn't I think of that?" he muttered "Okay, it's Nahuel then. I'm Embry."

"Goodbye, Embry," he said pointedly.

"Need to go don't I? Bye," he said decisively, running until he was beyond Nahuel's line of sight, whereupon the sound of clothes tearing rent the evening air. The hybrid chuckled, knowing that he had discomfited the boy to the point of ruining a perfectly good pair of shorts. He thought that Embry would consider it a small price to pay though, for if he was anything like Nahuel, finding someone who could empathise with fatherly estrangement in any form was a kindred spirit, no matter how they might offend his nose.

And truly, the price of replacing clothing was the last thing on the mind of the wolf that dashed through the morass, head held high and proud.


End file.
